Title: Together Again Author: SunnyD_Lite Spoilers: Follows 'Tangled Webs' which has spoilers to Shells, then goes on its merry way. Rating: PG but with Spike language. You have been warned. Disclaimer: Joss, ME, Sanddollar, and other corporate types own every conceivable copyright and interest in the characters. They stopped playing with them, so I thought I would. No profit, no foul, right guys? A/N: First off, hugs and doughnuts to my betas Pattyanne and Desota_hia_873. They made sure my ideas resembled sense. This piece will make more sense if you've read Tangled Webs, now on the sandlot. A quick summary: After Fred's transformation the team crumbles. Spike, in speaking with each of them, discovers that there are missing memories. Angel is isolated, working on a corporate strategic plan. Illyria watches videos with Spike and goes shopping with Harmony and a corporate credit card. The boys figure out a spell to retrive the memories and Gunn lawyer talks the Senior Partners, or their representatives, into restoring Fred and letting the team quit the firm, without harming Connor. They go back to the hotel and there, gentle readers, we pick up the story. Feedback: Yup Yup love the stuff. Really. Chapter 1 After convincing the Chinese place to deliver the order to the hotel, Fred stood by the phone and looked at her guys. "Best looking lot since the lacrosse team!" She sauntered over to where Wesley was sitting and plunked herself on his lap. They had lost so much time. This last episode, with being an ancient demon, was merely a reminder of the non-boring life style she had chosen. She could no longer slow down time, so she had to make the best of what she did have. She leaned in and planted a kiss on her fella. She wasn't sure why, but she had some memories of the time that thing had possessed her body. She knew bits of what it had known including Wes's killing of Knox, and the boring speech, which that murder had interrupted. Knew Wesley, white knight and dark horse, but was willing to accept both. Now she just had to prove it to him, and that WOULD be an uphill battle. "Hmm, did you guys notice the dust?" she asked the group. "What dust?" Wesley responded, then placed a chaste kiss on her cheek. "That's what I mean. We've been gone for months and this place actually looks BETTER than when we left -- I mean didn't Jasmine's 'shiny happy people' damage it before they fled?" "You're right, no painted pentagrams, no demon goo...Are we in the right hotel?" Gunn joked. "I thought we could use a fall back position, so I had the firm's janitorial staff keep an eye on this place," Angel offered as he sat leaning his desk chair back. "Bloody hell, so how many bugs to you think they've planted?" Spiked jumped from his lazy cat pose on the sofa. "When I was ghosting around the firm, I saw the technical critters they had. Science girl, could you do a sweep? You know what they've got, don't you?" "Hmm...Would have been a cinch at the lab, but ya, think I can cobble together something and check it out...I need to start sketching out the circuitry." Fred wiggled off Wes's lap, and passing Lorne, began to search the desk for a pen and paper. Gunn was sitting near Wesley and for the first time in a forever there was no tension between the two. Lorne was standing by the desk and looking around the lobby. "Did you guys ever think of opening a bar in this place? The Deco look always brings in a crowd and well, I've recently freed up a lot of time. Though I will have to find another contractor." "If you think it was our fault that Caritas kept being destroyed, what chance do you think a bar HERE would have?" asked Gunn. "Be bloody convenient, for one thing," Spike added his two cents worth. "And how are you planning to pay for your drinks?" countered Angel "If we let you near the place we'd be bankrupt by next noon." "I happen to know a fair bit about the bar business, and the local demon delicacies, thank you kindly. Knew enough about Willy's to catch you out, didn't I?" "And they're off and running." Lorne physically stepped between the two vamps before the verbal jousting turned real. "Ya, I guess we're all at loose ends now. Did any of you manage to squirrel away some cash from the Evil Empire?" Gunn looked around. "Un-huh, after that commemorative plate fiasco, I hired a financial planner to invest my share. I really didn't trust the in-house department to do it." Fred turned and looked at Angel over her glasses, "I asked one of them about ethical funds and they needed to bring in a defibrillator to start his heart up again. Got the idea that they WOULD put the money where their mouth was, so to speak." "Questions rarely led to straight forward answers at that place, did they?" Angel twisted the office chair to look at them all. "Speaking of money, who has their wallet handy?" Seeing the general confusion, he clarified, "I can hear the delivery guy outside." "You cheap bastard, you suggested this feed-up and Gunn nicely got you all out of a mess of your own making, and you're not even going to pony up for dinner. I'll get it, you ponce." As Spike moved toward the door, Angel was suddenly in front of him. "And just WHEN did you pick my pocket? That's MY wallet." "Figured you'd go all cheapo on us and took precautionary measures. Plus, with the Evil Inc. no longer funding these escapades, thought I should see if my various skills might come in handy." He looked at his hands. "Still got the magic fingers! Are you going to pay the poor lad or not?" Angel sighed. Yup, Spike was back. He turned to pay the delivery boy and was suddenly over come by searing pain. TBC